Wine Reviews for everyone from the enologically astute to the casually inclined

Friday, April 07, 2006

Hogue Merlot 2005 wine review by (PB)

This was another one of Gaiter and Brecher’s wines listed from their review of Merlot’s under $20. It is a Columbia Valley (Washington State) wine and has a fruity bouquet but is simple with a yeasty backbone and the nose is full of cherries and steel.

The palate is coated with baked bread, it is nicely made and well balanced with nice tannins and a finish that is again pretty straight forward. My first writing said “This is a typical Hogue wine—solid but not remarkable.” I remember thinking, “This seems odd to be a Gaiter/Brecher selection; it seems so ordinary. Silly me!

With some breathing the wine opens up to a nice foundation of chocolate and berries with a solidly made structure. It is a little chewy but more interesting than I first thought with a decent finish of fruit that lingers a bit. All in all I liked it and at $11, it is a decent value. But at this price point, it doesn’t come close to the previously reviewed Coppolla Merlot for $14. Raise a glass!

3 comments:

Ten years ago, when I was just of legal age and began to purchase wine, Hogue was one of my favorites. Affordable, but not cheap. Drinkable but not overly sweet or gimmicky. And I still pick up a bottle from time to time these days--particularly since they've moved to screwcaps. Their Late Harvest White Riesling is a phenomenal wine by any measure.

One of these days I'll write a little guide along the lines of "So You're Ready to Graduate From White Zinfandel and Yellowtail". I think that Hogue, Bogle, and Columbia Crest would feature prominently in such a guide--reasonable prices, wide availability, and really not bad wines.